Improvement in hydrants



n.1'. PEHKI'NS.

Hydrants.

Patented March 17, 1874.

NITED STATS ATENT FFICE.

EUANE T. PERKINS, or EoLYoRE, MASSACHUSETTS7 ASSIGNOR To HIMSELE AnnRICHARD POTTER.

y :MpnovEMEN-r IN HvoRANrs.

'Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 148,749, dated March17, 1874; application filed January 7, 1874.

To all whom fit may concern:

Beit known that I, DUANE T. PERKINS, of Holyoke, in the county ofHampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Hydrants; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description,and which said drawings constitute part of this speciiication, andrepresent, in-

Figure l, a plan view of the cylindrical chamber at the bottom of thehydrant which contains the valve and its operative mechanism. Fig. 2 isa vertical central section o'f the hydrant through line H.

My invention relates i'o an improvement in hydrants designed to be usedin connection with street water-pipes; and it consists of a valve havingan inclined face operating in a vertical direction within a cylindricalchamber, said valve being moved to and from its seat, which iscorrespondingly inclined, by means of a screw passing through said valveand resting in a recess at the bottom of the chamber, in connection witha shoe located at the rear of the valve. The screw is turned by means ofa rod extending up through the hydrant, and projecting through astuffing-box at the top, the lower end of said rod being provided with asocket tted to the top of the screw which operates the valve, and thecylindrical chamber is provided with an orice made through the screwwhich secures the shoe in its position at the rear of the valve, and tothe inside of the cylinder, so that when the valve is moved down awayfrom its seat, its rear part covers said orifice and closes it.

In the drawings, E represents the cylindrical chamber, provided with theinlet-pipe D, into which is fitted, at its inner end, the valve-seat c,having an inclined face, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. d represents thevalve, the face of which is correspondingly inclined to lit the seat c,and through the valve is made a threaded hole, through which passes thescrew f, the lower end of which rests in the recess o, made in the lowerend of the cylindrical chamber, and an annular boss or projectionextends up around said recess o a little distance, upon which the valvemay strike when moved to its lower limit. The shoe m, having alongitudinal groove made therein, is secured to the cylinder, at therear of the valve d, by a screw, i, through which is made an aperture,i', its entire length, and the rear part of the valve d has a projectionthereon, which moves in the groove h of the shoe. An adjusting'- screw,g, may be turned into a threaded hole inthe cylinder and against theback side of the shoe, which, when the valve d is up, and covering theinlet-valve seat c, may be turned in against the shoe to force the valveagainst or adjust it properly to its seat. The screw f is provided witha prismatic head, and the rod B, which extends through the hydrant-tubeA, is provided, at its lower end, with a socket, tting upon theprismatic top of the screw f. Said rod B extends up through the top ofthe hydrant, and-through an ordinary stuiing-box at the top, terminatingin a prismatic head, a. The cylindrical valve-chamber E is secured tothe hydrant post or tube A by bolts inserted through the holes in theflange F at the bottom ofthe hydrant-tube, into the iiange F at the topof the cylinder.

The operation of my invention is as follows: When the valve is againstits seat, closing the inlet-orifice, as shown in Fig. 2, it is opened byturning the rod B and screw j' by means of a wrench applied to theprismatie end a of the rod, and, as the screw f is thus turned in onedirection, the valve d passes down in a vertical direction, its rearpart passing over or against the orifice i, and closing said oriiice andopening the inlet D. The water is then free to pass in at the inlet D,and up the hydrant-tube A, and out at the outlet-orifice t.

Vhen it is desired to close the valve, the rod B is turned in theopposite direction, and the valve d is moved up by the screw f into aposition against the valve-seat c, as shown in Fig. 2. Then the valve isin this position properly against its seat, the screw g may be turned inagainst the shoe m, which forces the valve d firmly against its seat,and prevents any leakage whatever, and when once so adjusted it willremain for years without requiring any readj ustment. When the valve isthus closed, as above described, any water which may remain in thehydrant-tube and cylindrical chamber will pass out through the orilicei', which is opened by the valve passing up above it to close the inlet,and an effectual drip or removal of the water is accomplished. Theannular boss or projection n at the bottom of the cylindrical chamberprevents the edge of the face of the valve from striking the lower endof thc chamber and injuring it. The valveseat c may be secured in placein any desirable manner, but may bc etl'ectually secured by making thesame cylindrical, and fitting it into an annular recess, r, at the innerend of the inlet l), and securing with lead tamped in around the outerend of the valve-seat c. The valve and its seat having thus an inclinedface, a perfect and tight lit is the result, and, in either operation ofopening or of shutting the valve, the latter moves across theinletorifice at the valve-seat with a sliding or shearing movement,being actuated by the screw j", and any necessary amount of power to cutoff the most powerful stream flowing in at the inlet l) is produced,sufficient evenA to cut oft' sticks and other foreign substances whichmight be passing in at the time, so that the valve is not liable to beclogged in its operation, nor be rendered at all difiicult to operate byreason of a powerful stream of water, or even foreign substances, but issure and effective in all its operations. The screw j' might have itsbearing at any point above the valve instead of below it, and the valveand its seat be inclined in the other direction, so that the valve mightbe opened or closed by a vert-ical movement above the seat instead ofbelow it, without departing from the principle of its operation; but, ifthe screw has its bearing at the lower end of the valve-cylinder, thewhole cylinder then takes the strain of the screw in opening and closingthe valve, and the latter with its operative mechanism is out of theway.

By this construction, the hydrant-post may be removed from thevalvecylinder and access had to the latter without shutting off the wa-Yter from the section of water-pipes when the hydrant is located, andthereby rendering other hydrants in the vicinity useless, which would bea serious matter should a re occur in the same vicinity at the time.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is The inclinedvalve-seat c, in combination with the valve d, having acorrespondinglyinclined face, and the screw f and shoe fm, whereby thevalve is moved to and from its seat7 and is adjusted thereto in avertical direction, substantially as described.

DUANE T. PERKINS. litnesses T. A. CUR-fris, C. E. BUGKLAND.

